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CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PERIOD:
Demography and economy:
Until 1750 in Europe, the demographic and economic developments of the
period (since 1350) continued: there was very little population growth
and the economy stagnated. Many farmers had a piece of land and most
agricultural production was for own consumption or for a local market.
Some rural areas did very well and needed many labourers. Other areas
stagnated. Bad harvests, for instance in 1674 - 1679, 1681, 1684, 1693 -
1694 and 1709 - 1710, caused high prices for grain. When these hit,
there was not much capital left to invest in the cities. Agriculture
still had a very direct influence on cities.
After 1750 (when the plague disappeared and fewer famines occurred),
population started growing again. The countryside, however, was still
not overcrowded. Cities did not attract many people. In this period
rural industry grew very quickly. Smaller cities could not cope with the
competition of the rural industry and saw a decrease in their
population. Larger cities (often the seat of the central government)
still flourished though. The gold and silver from the newly conquered
colonies was spent there on large buildings and many officials. The
economic policy of the state, termed mercantilism, was meant to attract
many riches and much money towards these newly formed states and let as
little money as possible go to others. In this time of absolutism and
mercantilism, population was a very precious economic factor. Labourers
could produce products, which could be sold and bring money into the
state.
Politics:
In the politics of Western Europe, the developments of the previous
century continued. The central monarchs successfully established their
power in some countries. A new system of social organisation, the
nation-state, was installed in several countries, such as France and
England. The (absolute) monarchs had more power than any person or
institution had ever had and their installation opened a new period in
the history of Europe. The power of the central monarchs was, however,
still threatened by local forces and people were very used to thinking
on a local level. Therefore, the monarchs spent much energy trying to
create unity in the state.
One of the tools they had to further centralise their power was
religion. Religion had caused unrest in Europe because the church had
been split up in several religious movements. The persecution of
heretics continued in this period and even intensified. Central powers
started expelling all who shared in a religion different from the one
that was chosen to be the state religion.
Because of the rise of nation-states and their mercantilist politics
a large competition between states developed. This led to many conflicts
between nation states. Each state wanted to own valuable territory by
annexing parts of land that belonged to other monarchs.
EFFECT OF CHARACTERISTICS ON MIGRATION:
Demography and economy:
In Western Europe, farmers continued to migrate in this period. (In
Eastern Europe, people still were not free to migrate, due to widespread
serfdom). The farmers in Western Europe that did not have their own land
went to work elsewhere. Most of the time they worked not far from home
and went away for the season only. Some areas in Europe like the North
Seacoast, some Spanish and other fertile areas attracted labourers from
the hinterland, for instance: Germans went to Holland and the French
crossed the Pyrenees and went to Spain. Often people that lived in the
mountains went down to the plains in the harvest season. Most people
were involved in local or circle migration in the 17th century. Later on
chain migration and career migration became more important.
Other labourers went to the areas where early rural industry existed
and some went to small cities. A third group went to the larger cities.
These cities, which were often the seats of the central government and
commercial activities, offered many people jobs. The smaller cities lost
the competition with the rural industry-areas. People started moving
towards these rural areas instead of the cities after 1750. Most people
travelled short distances. Only the very poor, the very rich and
refugees travelled very long distances. The labourers that were used to
travelling long distances were provided with new destinations: the
colonies founded in the New World. Facts on these migrants can be found
below under the heading: searching for work.
In the 17th and 18th centuries, western Europeans moved out of their
home parish in rather routine local migrations. Leaving home was a
normal part of the life circle for a sizeable proportion of young
people. In rural areas they worked as farm servants or servants in
husbandry, while saving for their own land or dowry and training for
agricultural life, moving to take a new position as often as once a
year. Young apprentices and serving girls flocked to towns and cities.
For women especially, movement into another parish accompanied marriage
and family formation.
By the end of the 18th century, seven large systems of short term
circular migration, each involving 20,000 to 100,000 people per year,
animated the continent moving workers into East Anglia and London, the
Parish basin, the North Sea Coast, the Po Valley, central Italy, Castile
and the Mediterranean littoral of southern France. Smaller regional
systems activated the countryside in harvest seasons and brought rural
people into towns and cities for winter work.
In the 17th and 18th centuries, migration in western Europe was a
complex phenomenon: it nonetheless systematically reflected economic
circumstances, social organisation, property holding status and the
demographic characteristics of migrants themselves. (Survey, 126)
Politics:
In this time of absolutism and mercantilism, population was the most
valuable possession of a country. Governments did their best to bind
people to their territory. As a result there was little free migration
permitted. Sometimes however, the wish to establish unity of religion
caused migration. Political goals interfered with economic goals there.
Groups that were valuable for the economy were sometimes sent away in
order to strengthen unity. For example, the Jews and Moors who had to
leave Spain after 1492 were often artisans and merchants whose departure
meant a loss for the country. The same goes for the loss of 20% of the
population of the Netherlands in the 16th century when the
Protestants had to leave the Southern region. Of course other countries,
like England and the Northern Netherlands were willing to welcome these
migrants. In Germany, every region had it’s own religion. This was
decided after the 30-year war and also caused much migration. Facts on
these migrants can be found below under the heading: unity through
one religion
 1.
DESCRIPTION OF THE MIGRATION MOVEMENT
1.1 Who were they and where did they come from: ethnic origin,
geographical background, religion, adults, men or women, special
qualities?
Western Europe
UK
| * |
15th - 17th century: Protestants left England. |
| * |
1570: Catholics and extremist Protestants left
England. |
Germany
| * |
1555: Germans moved from one principality within
the German area to another (Protestants to protestant areas and
Catholics to catholic areas). |
France
| * |
15th - 17th century: Protestants (Huguenots) left
France. |
Netherlands
| * |
15th - 17th century: Protestants left the
Netherlands. |
| * |
1568: Protestants moved from the Southern
Netherlands to the Northern Netherlands. |
Belgium and Nordic countries
Southern Europe
Spain
| * |
1492: Religious refugees left the whole Iberian
Peninsula and went to other countries. 150.000 Jews and 300.000
Moors. |
| * |
1571: Moriscos were spread all over Spain. |
| * |
15th - 17th century: Protestants, Jews and Moors
left Spain. |
Italy and Greece
Eastern Europe
Poland
| * |
1650-1750: Many Jews went to England |
Russia
1.2 How did they travel: transport, circumstances of travelling?
1.3 When?
Western Europe
UK, Germany
France
| * |
16th and 17th century: Many Huguenots left France |
| * |
Netherlands, Belgium and Nordic countries |
Southern Europe
Spain
| * |
1492: Religious refugees left the whole Iberian
Peninsula.
Italy, Greece |
1.4 How many?
Western Europe
UK
| * |
15th - 17th century: 800 Protestants left
England. |
Germany
France
| * |
15th - 17th century: 200.000 Protestants
(Huguenots) left France. {Con} |
| * |
At least 200.000 French Huguenots left France
between the end of the 16th and the first half of the 17th
century. |
| * |
After 1520 until the end of the 17th century:
300.000-400.000 French migrated. |
Netherlands
| * |
15th - 17th century: 60.000 Protestants left the
Netherlands. |
Belgium
Nordic countries
| * |
1626-1800: Thousands of Scandinavians migrated to
other European locations. (Survey, 85) |
Southern Europe
Spain
| * |
1492: Religious refugees left the whole Iberian
Peninsula. |
Italy
Greece
1.4 How many?
Western Europe
UK
| * |
15th - 17th century: 800 Protestants left
England. |
Germany
France
| * |
15th - 17th century: 200.000 Protestants
(Huguenots) left France. {Con} |
| * |
At least 200.000 French Huguenots left France
between the end of the 16th and the first half of the 17th
century. |
| * |
After 1520 until the end of the 17th century:
300.000-400.000 French migrated. |
Netherlands
| * |
15th - 17th century: 60.000 Protestants left the
Netherlands. |
Belgium
Nordic countries
| * |
1626-1800: Thousands Scandinavians migrated to
other European locations. (Survey, 85) |
Southern Europe
Spain
| * |
15th - 17th century: 500.000 Protestants, Jews
and Moors, religious refugees, left Spain. |
Italy
Greece
1.5 Permanent or temporary?
Western Europe
UK
| * |
15th - 17th century: English refugees stayed
abroad. |
Germany
France
| * |
15th - 17th century: French refugees stayed
abroad.
Netherlands |
| * |
15th - 17th century: Dutch refugees returned.
{Con} |
| * |
1650 - 1750: Religious refugees came to the
Netherlands both permanent and temporary. {Luc} |
Belgium
Nordic countries
Southern Europe
Spain
| * |
15th - 17th century: Spanish refugees stayed
abroad. |
Italy
Greece
1.6 Where did they go to and where did they stay?
Western Europe
UK
| * |
17th century: From England groups of Puritans
went to America. |
| * |
1650 - 1750: Many Jews came to England. |
| * |
1650 - 1750: Irish went to Southern Netherlands.
{Leq} |
| * |
1691: 13.000 Irish went to France. {Leq} |
Germany
France
| * |
1685: 130.000 - 250.000 French fled to England,
Switzerland, Rhineland-Palatine and the Dutch Republic.
Secondary migrations carried these Huguenots to South Africa,
Ireland and British North America. {Can} |
| * |
16th and 17th century: French Huguenots went to
America and to the protestant parts of Europe, like parts of
Germany, Denmark and England. |
| * |
1650 - 1750: Jews came to France. Especially in
cities like Metz and in the Alsace were high concentrations of
Jews. {Leq}
Netherlands |
| * |
16th century: From the Netherlands groups of
Calvinists went to America. |
| * |
16th century: Dutch (exultants) came to Germany,
they settled in Lower Rhine first and went south afterwards. {Sieny} |
| * |
1650 - 1750: People from Southern Netherlands
came to Northern Netherlands. Jews and Huguenots also came to
the Netherlands. {Luc} |
Belgium
Nordic countries
| * |
1626-1800: Scandinavians went principally to the
Netherlands (for economic reasons). (Survey, 85) |
Switzerland
| * |
1650 - 1750: Swiss came to France, especially in
1656, 1694 and 1697. {Leq} |
Southern Europe
Spain
| * |
1492: The Jews went to Italy, the Ottoman Empire,
Morocco, Portugal etc. The Moors went to Morocco. |
| * |
After 1492: Converted Jews (Marranes) and Jews
also went to Holland. From there they moved to Surinam, Curacao,
New Amsterdam and Newport. |
Italy
Greece
2.
CAUSES OF MIGRATION
2.1 Circumstances that favoured migration
| * |
16th - 17th century: The fact that there were
countries with different policies on religion made it possible
for people to move towards other areas. (The policies changed a
lot over the years, depending on the power and religion of the
kings and queens of the several countries.) |
Western Europe
UK, Germany, France
Netherlands
| * |
15th - 17th century: The religious refugees had
the opportunity to escape to other countries where Catholicism
was not the official religion. After the Spanish domination over
the Northern Netherlands had ended, this country became
extremely favourable to escape to, because there it was possible
to choose your own religion. In addition, the Netherlands was
very prosperous at the time. |
Belgium, Nordic countries
2.2 Circumstances that hindered migration
2.3 Direct causes of migration
| * |
1520: New developments in religion made it
necessary for some people to move to countries that accepted the
new visions. People were not satisfied with the Catholic Church
and the church took too long to respond to this feeling. Martin
Luther in about 1520, stated that the most important factor was
sincere belief and that everyone was a priest. The bible was
also very important in his vision. Another reformer was Calvin.
He published his vision, which was based on the same principles
as Luther’s vision in 1536. In France these new visions were
severely suppressed. In other countries these visions were
accepted. The Catholics reacted with a counter-reformation
against the reformers whom were called Protestants since 1530. |
| * |
1558: Philip II was the most important ruler of
Europe. (He possessed Spain, the Netherlands, Franche-Comté,
large parts of Italy and the Spanish colonies. He also became
ruler of Portugal in 1580.) He had large amounts of money to
support him, because he ruled the most important trade-centres
of the period, the Netherlands and Italy, and had plenty of gold
and silver from the colonies. He used this money to fight the
enemies of Catholicism. The inquisition took harsh measures
against all religions except the old Catholicism. Protestants,
Jews and Moriscos were the victims. |
Western Europe
UK
| * |
1509 - 1570: England changed religion every now
and then. In England Henry VIII (1509-1547) made himself head of
the Anglican Church and was no longer loyal to the Pope. Under
the reign of his son Edward VI (1547-1553) the country became
Calvinist. His half sister Mary brought Catholicism back and
married Phillips II. Her successor, Elizabeth, restored
Anglicanism. |
| * |
1570: Elizabeth of England started a prosecution
against extremist Protestants, but most of all against
Catholics. There was a big fear for a catholic conspiracy,
caused by the anti-England policy of Philip II. |
| * |
17th century: In England the pro-catholic king
Jacob II, who ruled from 1685 to 1688 had to flee to France.
Mary and William III, who were both Protestants, succeeded him.
Protestant dissidents allowed to stay, but Catholics were not. |
| * |
1691: The Irish lost the battle at La Boyne. This
caused migration of Irish to France. Followers of Jacob II. |
| * |
1650 - 1750: Irish went to the southern
Netherlands because of religious conflicts. |
Germany
| * |
1555: The war Charles V (who ruled Spain, the
Netherlands, Franche-Comté, Aragon, Sicily, Naples and the
Spanish colonies, the Habsburger areas, Austria, Alsace and
since 1519 also the German areas) fought against the Lutheran
monarchs united in the "Schmalkaldische Liga"
(1531-1547) ended in the peace of Augsburg. In that peace it was
decided that each monarch inside the German area could decide
which religion his subjects should have. This caused the
movement of Protestants to protestant principality and of
Catholics to catholic parts. |
| * |
1683: German families came to America for
religious reasons. |
France
| * |
1572: In the Massacre of Saint Bartholomew,
August 24 1572, the most important protestant leaders in France
were killed. This caused the migration of many Protestants.
(Huguenots) |
| * |
1685: Louis XIV recalled the Edict of Nantes
(which had said that both Catholicism and Protestantism were
allowed) and 100.000 - 200.000 Huguenots left France. |
Netherlands
| * |
1566: A revolt broke out in the Netherlands.
There were many Protestants in this area and they did not
tolerate the Spanish domination. In 1568 Phillips II
re-conquered the Southern part of the Netherlands, but the
northern part, Holland, remained in revolt. This was the part
were many protestants lived. That's why many Protestants from
the South went to the North. |
| * |
16th century: Dutch (exultants) left the
Netherlands and went to Germany because of the 80-year war. {Sieny} |
| * |
18th century: Huguenots and Jews came to the
Netherlands for religious and sometimes also for economic
reasons. |
Belgium
Switzerland
| * |
1650 - 1750: Religious conflicts between
Catholics and Protestants in Switzerland caused the migration of
Swiss to France, especially in 1656, 1694 and 1697. |
Nordic countries
Southern Europe
Spain
| * |
1492: The conquering of Grenada by the Spanish
Catholics led to a new flood of religious refugees (Moors and
Jews). |
| * |
1568 - 1571: After a bloody revolt, the Moriscos
were spread all over Spain. |
Italy and Greece
3.
CONSEQUENCES OF MIGRATION
3.1 Short term consequences
Positive consequences
- for the migrants (first generation)
- for their new environment/ native born
- for the country they left
Western Europe
UK, Germany, France
Netherlands
- for the migrants (first generation)
| * |
1650-1750: For the migrants in Northern
Netherlands the consequence was that they had found a safe place
to live (sometimes temporary). {Luc} |
- for their new environment/ native born
| * |
1650 - 1750: The Northern Netherlands got many
new people in this area, but they were skilled people, who made
the country even more prosperous. |
Belgium, Nordic countries
Negative consequences
- for the migrants (first generation)
- for their new environment/ native born
- for the country they left
Western Europe
UK
- for the country they left
| * |
In England the Protestants that left were mainly
well-to-do people, the poor Protestants were left behind with
the problem of defending their religion in a primarily catholic
country. |
Germany, France
Netherlands, Belgium
Nordic countries
Southern Europe
Spain
- for the country they left
| * |
15th - 17th century: The Jews and Moors who left
Spain were often artisans and merchants. When they were expelled
they brought great injury to the Spanish economy. The Dutch
refugees went to the sea and became pirates, damaging the
Spanish fleet. |
Italy, Greece
3.2 Long term consequences
Positive consequences
- for the migrants (second and third generation)
- for their new environment
- for the country they left
Western Europe
UK
- for the migrants (second and third generation)
| * |
18th century: Many law-reforms took place. For
instance Jews were treated better now. |
Germany, France, Netherlands, Belgium, Nordic countries
Negative consequences
- for the migrants (second and third generation)
- for their new environment
- for the country they left
4.
REACTIONS ON MIGRATION
4.1 Reactions of the receiving society on the immigrants
- official reaction
- reaction of the common people
Western Europe
UK
Germany
- reaction of the common people
| * |
16th century: Dutch (exultants) that went to
Germany were accepted easily by the Germans |
| * |
1683: Mennonites, Tunker and Hernnhuter families
were distrusted, because they retained their own habits. |
France, Netherlands, Belgium, Nordic countries
4.2 Reactions of the immigrants on their new environment
- integration /assimilation
- maintaining their own identity
- differences between first, second and third generation
Western Europe
UK
- maintaining their own identity
| * |
1650 - ....: The Jews that came to England lived
in their own communities. These communities did not change much
through the centuries. About 1750, there was much anti-Semitism,
because of a naturalization law for Jews that was established in
1753. |
Germany, France
Netherlands
- maintaining their own identity
| * |
1650 - 1750: Jews in Southern Netherlands did not
assimilate, after the 30 year war ended in 1648 and religious
tolerance increased, a slow integration started. |
Belgium, Nordic countries
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